Assiqnob to the



F. A. REECE.

BUTTONHOLE CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED DEc.3. I918.

1,372,630. Pawntod Mar. 22, 1921.

1. Fig.4.

lrNe "for.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANKLIN A. BEECE, OF CHESTNUT HILL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TO THE BE'EOE BUTTON HOLE MACHINE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A

CORPORATION 01 MAIN E.

BUTTON HOLE-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1921.

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANKLIN A. REEcE, a citizen of the United States, residin at Chestnut Hill, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Buttonhole-Cutters, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts.

This invention relates to the buttonholecutting devices which are employed on buttonhole sewin machines for cuttin the buttonhole in t e cloth, and it has particular reference to a cutter adapted to cut a buttonhole with an eye at one end thereof.

Heretofore, the cutters for cutting buttonholes with the eye at the end thereof have usually com rised two cooperating elements, one of whic is in the form of a cutting bed and the other of which is a cutting element having a blade portion to cut the slit of the buttonhole, and a die portion to die out the eye of the buttonhole, both the blade and the cutting die portion performing the cutting operation against the cutting bed. Where this construction is employed it is important that thecutting edge of the cutting element should be exactly parallel to the surface of the bed during the cutting of the buttonhole because if this condition does not exist, then when the cutter is operated to cut a buttonhole, one end of the cutting edge will strike the cutting bed before the other end with the result that the fabric will be only partially cut through at the latter end, thus producing a ragged instead of a clean cut. Moreover, the cutting of a buttonhole by means of a cutter having the above-described construction requires the application of considerable power, especially where the material in which the buttonhole is to be cut is of a thick or heavy nature.

It is the object of my present invention to provide a novel buttonhole cutter for cut ting a buttonhole having an eye at one end which will produce a clean cut at all times with 1cm expenditure of power than is required in operating a buttonhole cutter of the type above described.

I secure this end by so constructing the two elements of the cutter that the slit portion of the buttonhole will be cut with a shearing out, while the eye portion will be died out by means of a cutting die coii erating on a cutting bed. I also preferab y use a construction in which the slit portion of the buttonhole will be out before the eye portion thereof because by this means a less expenditure of power is required than if the entire buttonhole is cut at once.

In order to give an understanding of my nvention. I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Figure 1 is a view of the cutting elements of a buttonhole cutting machine which embodies my invention;

F 2 is a section on the line 2-2, Fig. 3;

F g. 3 is a bottom side view of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on substantially the line 44, Fig. 1;

5 is a section on the line 55, Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the cutting element;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the bed element.

Fig. 8 is a view of a cut buttonhole.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a portion of the usual lever or arm on which the cutter is mounted, and 2 designates the bed element on which the work rests and which cooperates with the cutter to cut the buttonhole. These parts may have any suitable construction, but are herein shown as of the same general type as illustrated in United States Patent No. 1,188,945, June 27, 1916.

My improved cutter comprises two cutting portions, one of which is adapted to cut the slit 3 of the buttonhole and the other of which is adapted to cut the eye 4 thereof. The slit-cutting portion of the buttonhole is in the form of a blade 5 which is secured to a suitable holder 6 that in turn is detachably secured to the end of the arm 1 by some suitable means, as by means of a set-screw 7. The eye-cutting portion of the cutter is in the form of a cutting die 8 which is preferably made as an integral part of the holder 6, said cutting die being formed with the circular cutting edge 9 having the shape of the eye 4 of the buttonhole. The holder is made with the vertical face 10 against which the slit-cutting blade 5 rests, said blade being detachably secured to the holder by means of suitable screws 11. The

cutting blade 5 will preferably be arranged so that its cutting edge 12 projects below the cutting edge 9 of the eye-cutting portion 8, and if desired, said cutting edge 12 may have the V-shape shown, although this is not essential.

The bed member 2 is provided with a cutting bed 15 of some soft material, such, for

instance, as brass with which the cuttin die 8 cooperates to cut the eye portion 4 o the buttonhole, and it is also provided with the slit 13 which cooperates with the cutting blade 5 to cut the slit 3 of the buttonhole. The slit 13 has a width to freely receive the cutting blade 5, and the edges 14 of the slit serve to support the fabric each side of the blade 5 as it descends.

Since the cutting edge 12 of the blade 5 extends below the cutting edge 9 of the die portion 8, it will follow that as the arm 1 moves downwardly to cut the buttonhole, the edge 12 of the blade 5 will first engage the oods and cut the slit 3, after which the cutting edge 9 of the cutting die 8 will come against the fabric and cooperate with the cutting bed 15 to die out the eye 4 of the but- ,tonhole.

The slit and eye of the buttonhole are thus cut at separate times, and as a result a less expenditure of power is required to cut the buttonhole than would be the case if the entire buttonhole were cut at once.

Since the cutting blade 5 operates to cut the slit portion 3 with a shearing cut it is not necessary or essential that the cutting edge of the blade should always be maintained in parallelism with the edge 14 of the slit or the top of a bed member as is the case where the slit is cut by a knife which cooperates with the. bed. Furthermore, since the lateral or transverse dimension of the die portion 8 is relatively small compared to the length of the buttonhole a slight departure from a true parallel relation between the cutting bed and the face of the cutting die, which would be sufficient to the eye of the buttonhole.

In sewing machines of the type herein illustrated the bed element 2 is mounted'on a pivoted arm 36 which is operated at the proper time tov swing the bed into position to cotiperate with the knife and because of this pivoted construction the cuttin bed is apt to lose its correct parallel relation with the cutting edge of the die after the machine has been in use. Vith m improvements this loss of alinement is o no moment because a clean cut can always be made.

In order to produce a clean cut at the 'unction of the eye 4 and slit 3 of the buttonole, I propose to form the front side of the cutting die 8 with a slit 17 into which the rear edge of the blade 5 is entered, as clearly seen in Fig. 6. During the cutting of the buttonhole, therefore, the slit 3 which is cut first will extend into the portion of the fabric which is died out in forming the eye thereby making a clean cut.

The holder 6 is provided with an opening 16 into which the died-out portions of the fabric pass as the buttonholes are cut.

I claim:

1.. In a buttonhole sewing machine, the

combination with a supporting arm having a dove-tail slot in its end, of a cutting element sustained by said arm and comprising a holder having a dove-tail head to fit said a vertical face terminating on its upper end at a shoulder, and a cutting blade overlying and secured to said face, the portion of said holder in the rear of said face being shaped to form a cutting die, and a cooperating cutting element in the form of a bed element provided with a slit to receive andcooperate with the blade to cut the slitof the buttonhole and a bed portion to'cooperate Ivlvifh the die to die out the eye of the button- 2. A buttonhole cutter comprising two cutting elements, one of which has a portion provided with a slit and a bed portion raised slightly above the slit, said slit extending into the edge ofthebed portion, and the other of which has a hollow cutting die portion that operates against the bed to die out the eye of the buttonhole, and a shearing blade which enters and cooperates with said slit to cut the slit of the button-hole, the rear end of said blade extending through the wall of the cutting die. i

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.v v

FRANKLIN A. REECE.

, slot and being cut away on one side to form 

